Alitalia and Lufthansa Systems launch Simplified Interline Settlement

25 November 2011

Lufthansa Systems has successfully implemented the new IATA Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) standard at Alitalia. In a close cooperation, both companies introduced the latest version of the Sirax Revenue Accounting Platform which is fully compatible with the new IATA regulation that became effective in October this year. The new software module was tested during an eight-week pilot test together with IATA and other pilot carriers. With the official start of the new SIS standard, Alitalia successfully changed the interline settlement process to the new procedure and is one of the world’s first airlines using SIS for all interline billing types.

Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) is the most recent initiative of IATA to simplify and reduce the cost of interline settlements between airlines worldwide. By changing the paper-based process into a fully electronic and automated one, significant cost savings and efficiency gains can be achieved.

“The successful outcome of our test run underlines the professional cooperation we have had with Alitalia for a long time,” says Marco Cesa, Senior Vice President Regional Management Europe at Lufthansa Systems. “We are impressed with the airline’s commitment to drive this innovation, and we are confident that the company will benefit from the enhanced efficiencies of this news process soon.”

The SIS compatibility is the latest step of the on-going adaptation of Sirax to new industry requirements. Beside prime billing of coupons, also the rejection process and the billing memo process is now handled via the new SIS standard. The software supports all kind of billing methods like First & Final, Sampling and Request & Response. Other than that, bilateral billing can still take place using the old process.

The Sirax AirFinance Platform and its various modules cover all finance processes of an airline. It controls and manages the billing process by performing a fully automatic check of ticket sales against actual flight data. Integrated sub-processes also support the billing of interline flights to other carriers. Based on this analysis, the actual revenues are then calculated within a very short timeframe and to a high level of accuracy. Airlines using the Sirax AirFinance Platform to settle tickets with their interline partners can generate additional revenues of up to $2 per passenger thanks to more exact calculations.

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